cropping vs selecting & borders on seperate layers
memento1's recent icon tutorial brought up a couple of things I've always wondered about. First of all, doing a border on a seperate layer. I keep seeing this in tutorials. When I do an icon, once I'm happy with it, I merge (or merge visible..whatever i need) and then do a border using select, stroke etc on that one image. Is this any different to doing the border on a seperate layer? Is one better than the other?
Second, cropping. If I just want part of a pic, I'll open up with a new image 100x100, then on the origianl image, i'll do the box select on which part i want, then just copy the layer to the new pic. Now what I'm wondering, is cropping better? Artistically, I mean. What are the pros to cropping vs selecting? I've wondered about htese 2 things for ages, and I'm hoping someone can enlighten me.
Second, cropping. If I just want part of a pic, I'll open up with a new image 100x100, then on the origianl image, i'll do the box select on which part i want, then just copy the layer to the new pic. Now what I'm wondering, is cropping better? Artistically, I mean. What are the pros to cropping vs selecting? I've wondered about htese 2 things for ages, and I'm hoping someone can enlighten me.